


I’m So Empty (But I’m Way Too Smart For You)

by LocalSpaceMermaid



Series: The Empty ‘Verse [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders-centric, Death stuff only referenced in first few chapters btw, For some reason ao3 cut out a huge chunk of this sorry but it’s fixed now, Gen, Human AU, I take suggestions for cat names in future chapters, Inspired by someone I know who named their cat Virgil, M/M, POV Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Remus mention, So if you read chapter one already, That will make more sense once you’ve read this, The Crowned One, The violence isn’t super bad but there’s like sword fights and stuff, and by sort of I mean it’s a mystery, and theories cus it’s sort of this big mystery thing, it’ll probably make more sense now, the death isn’t super on screen also mainly ghosts, vaguely spooky atmosphere written by someone who can’t watch horror movies, you might want to check it out again quick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29098599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LocalSpaceMermaid/pseuds/LocalSpaceMermaid
Summary: It’s over, all over, and Patton, who thought he had everything, has two things left.He has his family, and his cats.They’ve all changed quite a lot, after everything.Virgil needs a job and the cat shelter down the road seems to be his last chance. But will what seems to be a low key job starts to slowly turn into an investigation into a mystery that some people would rather not be investigated? Will Virgil find love? Adopt a cat? Get possessed by a mysterious ghost? Discover the truth about a series of terrible curses?Wait- what where those last two things?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: The Empty ‘Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135016
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Don’t Let’s Start

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this a while ago and I’m so happy to finally get it up! Titles from SkullCrusher Mountain by Jonathan Colton. Chapter title from Don’t Let’s Start by They Might Be Giants. Next chapter is already written and will be up soon.  
> Warnings for spooky atmosphere and very mild swearing.

It’s over, all over, and Patton, who thought he had everything, has two things left.  
He has his family, and his cats.  
They’ve all changed quite a lot, after everything. 

Roman offers him a house as an apology, even after Patton tells him it wasn’t his fault, that he doesn’t need to apologize. Roman insists, says it wouldn’t be any use to him anymore anyway. Patton finally agrees, and let’s Roman know that if he ever needs a room, he is always welcome. He turns the house into a center for adopting and taking care of cats, and sure, sometimes he’s sad, and sometimes his allergies act up, and sometimes he wishes he could just return to the way things used to be, but really, it’s nice.

———————————

Virgil James needs a job. He’s already exhausted most of the places in town and at this point it’s either this animal shelter in the middle of nowhere, or Macdonalds. He’d almost rather die then work at MacDonalds.   
The place does not have a website for some weird reason, but it does have a FaceBook, which has a total of three posts, but does specify that  
A) The Patton Young guy that runs the place, wants to hire someone to help out  
And   
B) This dude has no technology whatsoever, so Virgil’s going to need a hand written resume, and he’s going to have to hand deliver it, in person.  
Virgil hates this already.  
—————-  
He arrives at this tiny weird cottage-thing that looks like something out of a fairy tale (but like a bad one, that you would tell to kids you hate) and immediately regrets all of his life decisions, including his own birth.  
It’s an absolute shit-hole. A complete and utter shit heap.   
It looks like at any point it’s going to slowly collapse on its self like the worlds worst set of dominos.  
He almost just wants to go back to his shitty apartment.   
He doesn’t, but he does text Remy.

Virgil   
if I die at this interview you better avenge me asshole 

With that out of the way, he begins to walk into the building. He is confident, he is ready. He realizes that he left his resume in his car, and has to double back for it. Okay, now he’s ready.  
————-

Patton Young walks down the stairs to the office Virgil is waiting in slowly.  
He looks as if every step pains him. He looks about twenty but walks as if he’s in his seventies. Patton doesn’t mention it, so Virgil doesn’t bring it up, he just hands the guy his resume, answers his questions, and pets a couple of the cats that are walking around. He’s waiting to find out how he’s going to hear back from this guy (snail mail? Cryptic dream messages? Who the Hell doesn’t own a cellphone?) When the guy hires him on the spot, and tells him to come in at eight a.m. Monday (ew) he’s surprised. He heads back home, and texts Remy about the news.

————   
Virgil regrets this immediately.  
It’s eight a.m. Monday morning, Virgil’s pretty sure Remy gave him decaf this morning. He is exhausted.  
He barely has time to get the door to place open before he is greeted by Patton, who is holding two tiny, adorable kittens.

“Hi! Harper and Leo, this is Virgil. Virgil, these are Harper and Leo, can you hold them for a second.”

Patton is so incredibly bubbly that Virgil just kinda stares at him for a minute.

“Sure I guess-“

“Great!” Responds Patton, quickly motioning him inside.

“Feel free to leave your shoes on, I haven’t had time to clean, hope you don’t mind the mess, kiddo!”

Patton continues to lead him through the office, past an old wooden rocking chair, and into a big room full of cats, cat beds, toys, and a multitude of scratching posts.  
He gives Virgil a tour, and every cat seems to have some exciting backstory.   
There’s Diamond, who was found as a kitten curled up in the display window of a jewelry shop, Baker and Poppy who lived at the old bakery down the road until the baker retired, and found out her retirement home wouldn’t let her keep them, (she visits twice a week), and Willow.

“Willow was.. a friend’s,” Patton’s smile slips for a moment. “She’s here now, but he visits a lot!” 

His smile returns, and Virgil hast to blink at its sudden intensity. It’s sort of like staring at the sun.   
There’s plenty of other cats, and Patton introduces him to all of them.   
After that they clean some litter boxes, and wash some food dishes. Now that Virgil takes a look around, the place looks awfully messy, which is probably part of the reason Patton hires someone. It takes Patton a long time to do many of the tasks, and it looks kind of painful. Around lunch, someone shows up. 

“Hey Pat, just thought I’d stop by-oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you head guests.”

The guys about Patton’s height. He’s wearing all black, except for a pair of yellow rain boots. Virgil looks up at him, and immediately tries not to stare at the left side of his face, which is heavily scared. Thick, angry red lines cross cross his face, and puffy scar tissue seals his left eye shut. Both the left side of his neck and his left hand are covered in scars and tissue. He grins at Virgil.

“I’m Janus Young, you must be the new assistant.”

Apparently this guy is Patton’s brother, who stopped by to bring Patton to a doctors appointment he completely forgot about.   
He ushers Patton onto his car (a huge black pick-up truck). Virgil’s watching them leave, clutching the list Patton wrote for him on feeding times for the different cats, when Janus pops back in. 

“Sorry to bother you,” he says oily, not really looking that sorry, “but Pat wasn’t sure if he’d put one of the litter boxes back, and asked me to check for him.” 

He grins, but it looks more like he’s baring his teeth.   
Virgil helps him locate the right cage and as Janus puts the litter box back, he takes a deep breath, and asks:

“Is Patton okay? He seemed to be having a bit of trouble earlier, and I was just wondering, with the the doctor appointment and everything-“

Suddenly Janus is standing right in front him, leaning into his personal space.

“You haven’t worried Patton with this nonsense, have you?” He leers.

This was a mistake. “No, I just-“

Janus cuts him off again. 

“Look, Patton hired you to help, so help. And know this. If I asked him to, Patton would fire you on the spot, no questions asked. So, if you want to keep your job, keep your mouth shut.” He leaves with a flourish, and a cruel grin.

Asshole.   
—————-

The next day, when Virgil shows up to work, there’s already someone else there, talking to Patton. The guy’s around Virgils age, probably somewhere in his early twenties. He’s pretty attractive, tall, and muscular, with curly hair. He introduces himself, with a flirty smile, as Roman Moore.  
Virgil tried to focus on washing the dishes (the dishwasher broke again) but he can’t help but over hear. 

“I just could have done something, Pat! If I’d just been a second faster I could have saved him!” Roman sobs. 

“Kiddo, no, it wasn’t your fault. Soothes Patton. “He made his choice, he didn’t want you to get hurt.”

After about ten more minutes of Roman having a breakdown, Patton sends Virgil to get groceries. When he comes back, Roman is gone.  
————-  
A week goes but and nothing really happens.  
People stop by, and a couple cats get adopted.  
On Tuesday, Virgil looks put the window at closing time to see that the place is absolutely buried in snow.  
He can’t even get the door open.

“You can stay the night kiddo, I’ve got a spare room with a couch upstairs if you want”. 

Virgil offers to sleep in the chair downstairs so Patton can take the couch.

“I can’t really make it upstairs any more, kiddo.” Patton tells him sadly.

Virgil takes the couch.  
———   
There’s a framed photo sitting on the couch. Virgil means to just move it to the dresser or something, doesn’t want to be a weirdo about it, but something makes him take a look at it.   
It’s a photo of what appears to be a younger Patton, (about twenty) surrounded by others. Next to him is a guy who looks just like him but with a mullet, and a terrible yellow scarf. Virgil states at him, and realizes that must be a younger Janus. Next to Janus, is a guy that looks like an older Roman, wearing a flouncy blouse, with a bit of stubble. Maybe a brother? And behind him is a guy Virgil doesn’t recognize. He’s tall, with black hair and brown glasses. He’s wearing a dark blue button up, and smiling at Patton.  
There’s something sad about the photo.   
Virgil carefully sets it on the dresser, and goes to bed.  
———————  
Something has his leg.  
He was asleep, but now he’s not, he knows he’s not, and somethings dragging him by the leg.  
He tries to sit up, but the something drops him, and his legs hits against something hard.   
He opens his eyes.  
He’s in a cave. It’s dark dreary. Cave like.   
There’s a figure leaning over him.  
It’s a man. He’s grinning, a tarnished Iron crown, sitting on his head, with what looks like long drips and threads of metal coming out of it.   
He lunges towards Virgil.


	2. Hand in Unloveable Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladies, Gentlemen, and Non-binary pals, please give a warm welcome to your villain for this evening, The Crowned One!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s one of the major plot twists I’ve been really excited about! Warnings for spookiness, possession, fighting, references to death, and some violence including with swords. Chapter title from No Children by The Mountain Goats. Also ao3 ate half of the previous chapter so if you already read that you might want to check it out again. It’ll make more sense now.

The crowned figure lunges.

Virgil screams.  
He rolls out of the way and looks for something, anything to protect himself with. He grabs a rock from the cave floor, and thrusts himself upwards, twisting towards the figure.  
They both freeze at the same time.

The figure looks like Virgil.

The figure looks almost identical to Virgil. He has the same messy black hair, the same brown eyes. His nose is a little different, and he has a dimple in his chin that Virgil doesn’t have, but still, it’s kinda creepy.

The figure starts laughing, menacingly.  
Hr stops suddenly and begins to stare at Virgil. He does not blink.

“Who-“ Virgil stops. The figure moves closer as Virgil’s voice echos around the cave. “Who are you?”

The figure grins and shakes his head, causing droplets of tarnished metal to rain down from his crown.

“I had a name, once.” He whispers. 

He doesn’t sound much like Virgil, his voice is smoother, with a hint of an Irish accent. He moves even closer to Virgil, leaning over him. He grins.

“People used to call me Logan.”

And before Virgil can say or do anything, Logan pokes him directly in the eyes.

—————————————-

Waking up is strange because he isn’t technically opening his own eyes.   
Logan- no that’s not his name anymore, that’s not him any more, he’s more than that now.   
He hasn’t ever tried possessing anyone before, but as The Crowned One, it is one of the many powers The Crown has given him.

Possessing this newcomer is made even stranger by the fact that he has his face, and by the fact that he no longer is in his cave.  
Instead he is in a strange, long, (familiar) room, filled with old furniture. 

He makes his way over to the dresser, and finds a rather old photo. It’s a photo of him, the old him, the one who hadn’t yet bore The Crown, who hadn’t yet felt It’s power. The old him is surrounded by others he had known, but his borrowed eyes zero in on Patton. He stands there until a sudden thought bowls him over, sending him crashing to the ground. Logan had loved Patton. For a moment it seems strange, and then it seems like the most obvious thing in the world. Before the crown, Logan loved Patton.   
He’s still ruminating on this discovery, when he hears a voice from down stairs.

“Hey kiddo, are you okay up there?”

He knows, without question, that it’s Patton.

————————————————

He rushes down the stairs as fast as his borrowed legs can take him, and collides with Patton.   
Patton teeters for a moment, grabbing onto the railing to keep from falling over. 

He lets out a laugh and it sounds strained. 

“Good morning Virgil! I was thinking about making waffles but I wasn’t sure if-“

The Crowned One grins. 

“Why did you leave me in that cave?” He asks.

Patton freezes.  
He takes a slow, painful step back.

“Virgil-“

“Oh, so the name of this body is Virgil? How interesting.” 

The Crown Bearer laughs, taking another step forward. 

At this point they are well out of the stair well, and have crossed the threshold into the main room.

“You put him in the that room with all of Logan’s old things, on Logan’s old couch, and you thought I wouldn’t be able to reach him from my cave? Is this another side effect of your curse, or is it just you being stupid?”

Patton appears to be upset. He stumbles backwards, tripping painfully over his own rocking chair, before sitting down heavily in it.

“Logan” he begins “please don’t do this.”

“Do not call me that,” The Crowned one hisses, leaning down over the chair. “Logan is dead.”

Patton stares him right in the eyes, before looking away again.

“You need to stop possessing Virgil. He has his own life-“

They both freeze when they hear someone knocking on the door.

“Patton you won’t believe this.” 

Roman says loudly, walking in holding several canvas grocery bags, he hands a few to the possessed Virgil as he makes his way over to the counter. 

“My brothers been trying to contact me again-“

The Crowned One grins. 

“So Roman, tell me. How are you enjoying your curse?”

Roman drops one of the bags.

“Pat, did you tell him? You promised you wouldn’t-“

“Roman, kiddo” starts Patton,his eyes flitting back and forth from Roman to The The Crowned One “Maybe you should leave.”

Roman starts to turn towards Patton, to demand to know exactly what’s going on.  
He doesn’t see The Crowned One lunge at him until it’s almost to late.  
He reaches out to his arm to protect himself, to protect Patton, and his sword materializes in his hand. 

He swings it, and The Crown Bearer dodges, hissing.

“Who are you?” He asks. “Did you open the gate?”

The Crowned one laughs.

Roman continues to swing his sword, as Crowned One draws closer. 

“I am what remains of Logan Allen. I am the The Crowned One, It’s protector who is currently possessing the form that has been referred to as Virgil.” 

He dodges the blade again, and shoves Roman against the row of cat cages, dodging again as one of the cats swipes at him.

“You killed Logan” Roman’s voice is shaking.

“Oh, I did not do that. The Crowned One grins, wrestling the sword out of Roman’s hand. “That was all you.”

Several things happen at once. 

Roman, using his free hand, punches The Crowned One in the face, who reels backwards, dropping the sword.

They both lunge for it. 

The Crowned One grabs it, and using his forward momentum, knocks Roman over, pinning him the ground, the sword pointing directly at his heart.

Distantly, he hears Patton scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you have any theories! Also huge thanks to everybody who read last chapter and everybody who left kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you have any theories! If stuff doesn’t make sense that’s probably foreshadowing lol


End file.
